Every car has a MPH Display. This is just logical thinking. One of the really cool things about the Toyota Prius, is that it has a Gas Mileage Display.

A discussion has broken out over on Ecomodder discussing this very point. It’s my belief that iin the future all cars will have this dataset built in by government standard and when cars fall below a certain fuel mileage that they will no longer be fit for the road.

This is my personal take on the issue.

What do you think?

Volkswagen announces that their BlueTDI technology is now ready for the North American market, but is America still unprepared to embrace a diesel car?

The announcement came from VW at the International Vienna Motor Symposium in Austria. The clean burning diesel trumps its own 2006 TDI model in fuel savings by 12%. The reworked 2.0 liter diesel will bring 60mpg to the market while still being 50-state legal. VW had already been approved for Europe by meeting or exceeding their 2009 Euro-5 standards. Now that the VW BlueTDI engine has passed the EPA’s Bin 5/LEV 2 Emissions rules it will now be permitted to stamp its passport for a voyage across the Atlantic.

The new BlueTDI Jetta arrives on the North American shores pushing 138-hp and 236-ft lbs of torque; both superior improvements in performance over the 2006 model. The last TDI engine for the VW sold in 2006 had 100-hp and 170-ft lbs of torque. As the 2006 model sold for about $24-26,ooo in the US when new, what will the mark-up be on the new BlueTDI? Reports say that the diesel engine will be a scant $2,000 over the MSRP of its gasoline brother.
…Photos and Fuel Mileage comparison after the leap…

(TH!NK CEO Jan-Olaf Willums and Design Manager Kathinka Von der Lippe)

TH!NK, a Norwegian electric car producer, is ready to give America their first taste of an affordable, mass-produced, all-electric vehicle in 2009 thanks to a partnership with Green-leaning investors Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers (http://www.kpcb.com) and RockPort Capital Partners. While TH!NK has been producing EV’s for the Scandanavian roads for a number of years now and has enjoyed other partnerships, including a stint with Ford, this will be their first forray in North America.

The first car of their three current designs that will be sold by TH!NK North America will be the TH!NK City. To start out the company will focus its sales in California, but if the car sales go as expected there will be more states to come we can imagine. The TH!NK City is built from materials that make it 95% recyclable and has a range of 110 miles and reaches a top speed of 65 mph. There are two battery options available to the TH!NK City buyer: lithium or sodium.

As with the all electric car system Project Better Place that is taking place in Isreal, the owner of a TH!NK car will pay a maintenance fee for the batteries used in their cars. In exchange TH!NK will assume all responsibility associated with their battery packs, including swapping them for new batteries if necessary. The fee also covers the body panels of the car; which they describe as dent resistent and rust proof. The proper support and gentle aging that takes place over the cars lifetime is one of the reasons TH!NK believes their cars will retain a high resale value over time. 
…Photo Galleries to follow…

It has been some time since China had any good press, and recent protests over air quality by Olympic athlete’s and international protests for a free Tibet have done little to lighten the mood. Things for China did not improve in the slightest when a University of California study released their findings and named China the #1 polluter on the planet (…YES! High Five!).

Finding it easier to squash and ignore the Tibet issue Chinese authorities are focused on showcasing their Olympic host city. As a means of addressing air quality issues Bejing has issued a few directives that are aimed at resulting in more sunny days in the Capital city.

In an effort to curb carbon emissions from automobile traffic Bejing has issued the equivalent of Drive-Day rationing. Based on the last letter of your license plate cars are ordered to only drive every-other day. And in a well-mannered society such as China we are certain there will not form a Black Market for extra license plates.